Every man has his place

My Father’s Day 2015

The night before my little girl was in bed and one hour after bedtime sprang out of bed and ran up to me gave me a hug and a smile and shouted “Happy Fathers Day”. It was no surprise therefore when she spoke me awake at 5am with the same bright, cheer.

Phew, what a day.

The best thing about Fathers Day is that in a world that gives you little time to do the things you truly want to do, Father’s Day allows you time to spend with your kids and enjoy them without restrictions of time.

They are all at an age where they make there own cards and gifts and I treasure each creative effort. This year they even helped make the traditional Fathers Day breakfast. I love this tradition, not just because I get to eat it all but because family based traditions were what I was raised on and I believe they offer a sense of unity and common purpose. Who’s ever day it is, a simple tradition of making breakfast in order to honour their achievements and exclaim our love of that person, is always a positive endeavour. My wife had made a special effort to cut flowers out of the toast and fill the middle with eggs. I heard her teaching the kids how to do it. So nice.

It was a full day filled with fun activities. My favourite was to play board games whilst eating pizza. I am trying to encourage us as a family to play more games together. My grandad used to encourage playing board games and cards, insisting it as essential to a child’s development.

I was in a rush to see my Dad but I had to take the oldest 2 to a party at the local laser tag centre. It was brilliant though because I got to watch on camera and my son came first twice. I had had an amazing day with my own kids, I couldn’t have been happier, but as luck would have it my day wasn’t over.

I finished the day with a cinema trip (this was my present to my Dad) to watch Jurassic World.

What an epic film! No spoilers but I think it would be worth a review in a future blog.

It wasn’t just about the film. Being with my Dad we just naturally fall into our father son joker act. When the girl brought the extra large hotdogs, we asked if they were the small ones, we are just as bad as each other.

And we got to talk on the journey there, on the journey back. We all have problems or niggles but my Dad seems to understand mine and responds by easily debunking them. Effortlessly melting them away. He is always so positive I always come out feeling better.

I love you Dad.

It was such a wonderful day. As I reflect on it I realise that where as it is celebration of you (as a Dad) or a celebration of your own Father, it is more simply a connection to the ones you love, which is ultimately one of the most positive things you can do.

Thank you to my Kids and Wife for my Fathers Day and a Happy Fathers Day, to my Dad, and all the Fathers out there.